A more quantitative analysis of the costs and benefits should also be
undertaken. Any modelling of costs and benefits should give proper
consider to their distribution. If the benefit of the proposal is concentrated
to a handful of individuals or businesses, or the cost is disproportionally
borne a small subset of the industry, the proposal may be inappropriate
even if the total benefits exceed the total cost because of equity
considerations.

Cameron Boardman, CEO of auDA:

When will auDA members, Internet users, and organisations be able to read this critical missing quantitative business case?

Never Lose Your Glasses Again – Unloseable Sunglasses

Tzukuri – a startup business – are looking for 100 passionate users to help them refine and test our glasses before they’re available to the public.

At the end of the testing period, you will be allowed to keep the glasses.

Using beacon technology and the world’s tiniest solar panel you are able to track where you last had your glasses via a smartphone app. Plus it automatically sends a series of alerts if you leave them behind.

Competition: different ways to navigate the Internet (e.g. search engines, new top level domains, apps, social media)

Growth: flat

Does .au policy need to evolve to meet the needs of all .au stakeholders?

Discuss in the comments section below:

Questions & Answers

Question: “You’ve been on the board for the past 14 years, so you’re not quite an outsider looking to be newly elected. What will another term on the Board enable you to do? How does that compare to bringing in new voices into the organisation?”

JR: “To have auDA members re-elect me for 7 terms is humbling and I’ve never taken that for granted.

I have played an active role in delivering significant change during those years including: domain name policy, competition model, domain slamming, and domain monetisation.

The reason I’m standing again is to seek the opportunity to continue to be an energetic and entrepreneurial contributor to the .au domain name space.

One of the key issues which the next auDA board must consider is whether or not to open up .au for direct registrations. This will require a good understanding of policy, stakeholders and how the digital economy is evolving. I believe I tick these three boxes.

That’s not to say new blood on the board is not important, the current board does have a cross section of directors with a good balance of experience and tenure.

I am very passionate about seeing .au succeed locally and globally.

I expect this to be a hotly contested election in demand class – which is a good thing in itself.”

Share this:

Like this:

“Why would I use social media – I only sell wire cables?” asked a business owner at the PeSA Internet Conference last week.

The audience member paused and then continued.

“My cables can be used on yachts, for fishing, on bridges, … “ detailing half a dozen examples of how his product could be used by customers.

The business owner’s commoditised wire cables came alive through his descriptions of how it would be used in amazingly creative and useful ways by customers.

The business owner had pigeon holed his product as a commodity item. In reality when it was used by the customer it was not just a wire cable. His product allowed his customers to sail the seas, catch fish and traverse valleys across the most beautifully scenic landscapes.

My response was short and sweet.

“You just provided me with a start to half a dozen blog posts which describe how your product can be used by customers. It’s just a question of which social media networks are most relevant to share these stories with your current and future customers.”

The business owner smiled. He’d just taken the first step in creating his social media strategy.

Share this:

Like this:

Tony Hawk is one of the greatest professional skateboarders of all time, I have been following him since I was a kid. I watched him fly through the air at the Australian Grand Prix the other weekend with grace and beauty. The branding for the event was “Tony Hawk and Friends Vert Jam”.

Over the years Hawk has lent his name to video games, amusement park rides, and an expanding digital empire. I asked a young teenage boy beside me at the Grand Prix skate ramp a simple brand question:

“Which came first; Tony Hawk the skater or Tony Hawk the video game?”

The young kid shot back his answer instantly with confidence; “Tony Hawk the video game”.

Wow.

As far as this kid was concerned, the bloke spinning up gnarly tricks on the vert ramp had just adopted the name Tony Hawk because of a really cool video game.